Ona

Level 7

The Crystal Breakers legacy was a handful of completed rooms in side passages along the main pathway. The cavern was empty of monsters and memorable features. The walls looked the same, the turns and twists and drops deeper into the mountain were unremarkable.

“Was the game world completed?” I said to the red knight as she guided me in silence, like a tracker on the hunt. “Loaf is taking advice from the Source Aura because I stepped back and didn’t help. He invited me here to be a mentor, the friend he needed.”

“”Please be silent, there are dangers lurking around every corner.”

“But the caverns are empty.”

“The Source Aura deleted everything in her path.”

“So the game was deleted?”

The red knight stopped, looked around and said, “The game is over. I have failed!”

“Can the game be restored?”

“No. I should have pursued the Source Aura with more urgency. The red knight is not deserving of a seat at the high table of Castle Bromme.”

“What now?”

The red knight faded into a ghostly figure, the torch she carried dropping to the floor of the cavern. “I no longer have a purpose.”

I panicked as the torchlight dimmed and flickered out, the cavern as dark as I’ve ever seen a place. “Wait!”

The red knight said nothing.

“Wait, I need you.”

The red knight said nothing.

I could feel a wall hit me from out of nowhere, and knock me to the ground. I could feel strong arms hugging me.

“Do you promise to need me?” shouted the red knight, her armored body falling heavily onto the sandy floor of the cavern, at my side as I struggled to move out of her way.

“I promise.”

The red night said, “I have a name.”

I looked for the silhouette of the red knight in the pitch black.

“Onisa, the sister of Ona.”

The torchlight sparked to life and I was staring eye to eye at the red knight, and she was smiling.

I said, “Nice to meet you, Onisa.”

“The tower has a spare room,” said Onisa.

“We need to find Loaf and save the game world before the Source Aura deletes everything.”

“But the tower guarding the kingdom of the Crystal Breakers had such a nice guest room. I peaked before we started the quest.”

“Does Castle Bromme have guest rooms?”

“Yes,” said Onisa.

We continued the quest deep into the cavern.

“How many?” I said.

“How many of what?” said Onisa.

“Onisa.”

“Yes?”

“Do you have any idea where you’re going?”

“No.”

“What?” I said, caution about getting lost in the caverns.

“The Source Aura deleted the landmarks carved by the Crystal Breakers, and all the twists and turns now look the same.”

I pulled the torch from Onisa’s hand and stepped into one of the side rooms along the main path. I searched for a door or any way out of the cavern and quickly found the exit behind a small pile of rubble, or what appeared to be a smashed statue.

Onisa dug into the pile of rubble and found the head of a statue, then began to laugh. “The Source Aura created an infinite loop.”

“So we have traveled nowhere.”

“Yes, hours of walking in a circle under the tower.”

“I’m too tired to care,” I said, “Let’s return to the surface”

Onisa took me by the hand and smiled, “I will lead you to the tower guest room, to rest.” In a few short minutes we  cleared the rubble, crawled into a narrow passage and stood in the tower guest room.

“I have a think you planned this from the start,” I said, waiting for a reaction to confirm my suspicions.

“No,” said Onisa, “I would have made you work a lot harder to find the way out of the caverns.

I sat in a small wood chair near a small wood table and stared into a fireplace. “What can we do about the Source Aura?”

“We need an army.”

“But the game has no outside players, the characters are all part of the story, even the ones in training at Castle Bromme.”

“Did you hear about the flower field guarded by a giant?”

“Yes,” I said. “I reached a pond in a clearing, and was rescued by Loaf.”

“So you fell for the trap.”

Onisa smiled, “The flowers are the characters of outside players, must be a hundred or more.”

“The people behind the characters no longer play the game, but many left the perfect solution to our problem. The characters who are not part of the original game, cannot be deleted by the Source Aura.”

Onisa left the room, and returned minutes later wearing the red dress with silver thread patterns. “So you tried to log out of the game while I was gone?” She pulled a chair close to the table.

“How did you…?”

Onisa smiled, “Get some rest before we start level 8.”

The air shimmered like water, and I was logged out of the game. I walked around my apartment, stretching my legs and grateful to feel the cool air conditioning in the midafternoon. I ate a quick lunch and mentally prepared a return to the virtual world. I was burned out from the years of pro gaming, but the mentor and student link was going well. I considered a future career as a teacher.

© J. Bateman

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